Freedom Convoy organizer Tamara Lich is appearing in an Ontario court today for a bail review after she was recently denied bail on allegations of having breached her bail terms of having no contact with fellow convoy organizers.
Lich has now spent a cumulative 48 days in jail while she waits to answer to non-violent charges.
Her trial is in relation to her role as a key organizer of the truckers’ Freedom Convoy protest held for over three weeks in Ottawa’s downtown core earlier this year, where protesters called for an end to the federal COVID-19 vaccine mandate and other pandemic restrictions.
She was ordered to remain in jail to await trial after Justice of the Peace Paul Harris denied her bail on July 8.
As a key Freedom Convoy organizer, Lich was first arrested on Feb. 17 and after initially being denied bail, she was released in March on a number of conditions, including to have no contact with fellow convoy organizers.
On June 27, Lich was arrested for the second time since the start of the convoy protest—this time in her hometown of Medicine Hat, Alberta, under a Canada-wide warrant. She was transferred back to Ottawa for bail hearings, and has been held in custody ever since.
Crown prosecutors alleged that Lich breached her bail conditions during a June 16 award ceremony in Toronto, where she was presented with the 2022 George Jonas Freedom Award from the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms.
The Crown presented as evidence a photograph of Lich and a fellow convoy organizer Tom Marazzo taken at the event, and a video showing Lich sitting at a table where Marazzo and others were seated. The two were seen briefly interacting after Lich gave a speech.
However, defence lawyer Lawrence Greenspon argued on July 25 that Lich and Marazzo did nothing more than shake hands and pose for a photo together at the ceremony, which he said was not a strong case of breaching bail terms.
In a previous hearing on July 5, he also noted that a brief congratulatory exchange after winning an award wouldn’t lead to illegal activity and that the organizers’ interactions wasn’t a breach of bail conditions, as Lich’s bail terms specified that there should be no communication with convoy organizers except in the presence of counsel.
The court also heard testimony that lawyers who were present at the event approved the picture taken of Lich and Marazzo.
The Freedom Convoy started as a demonstration against the federal’s mandatory COVID-19 vaccine mandate imposed on all cross-border truck drivers, which came into effect in January. The protest ending after the federal government invoked the Emergencies Act on Feb. 14 and police cleared the demonstration in an escalated operation over a few days.
Lich faces charges of mischief, obstructing police, counselling others to commit mischief, among others for her role in the Freedom Convoy protest.
The Ontario court has issued a publication ban for the hearing on July 25.
The court proceedings are expected to continue on July 26.
